Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Crash and yearn ... and a big time tangent!

I think I am crashing from my over-hyped burst of super-energy that has been spurning me from one project to another ... and I am now yearning to read.  The thing about reading is that it is very time-consuming and if I am not involved in a book, I tend to just not read because if it's a good book I will read it until it is done.

The last book I read stayed with me, Don't Make a Scene: A Novel: Books: Valerie Block and when that happens I tend to not jump into a new book because I like to savor the last traces of what grabbed me.  But then, if I am not careful, weeks will go by without my reading at all.  And that is where I am at now.  Not that it is surprising, since every waking moment of my day I have either been writing, working on a slide show, learning how to edit music on a new software program or blogging -- but I've managed to make it all work by extending my days -- going to bed later and getting up earlier.  

(I've left out the minute other details of my life like shuttling children, helping Charlie have a party, listening to a vacuum salesman for hours, cooking, cleaning, laundry and flossing.)

But it's catching up with me -- which is just my body saying HEY LADY It's TIME to READ A GOOD BOOK!  But which one?  I have such a stack that has been growing it's starting to scare me!

One is The Secret History of the War on Cancer by Devra Davis  which appealed to me because I remember when my niece first joined the world of cancer as a small child, I was appalled at the fact that my sister was never even asked to fill out a survey which I assumed would generate very important data that researchers would find, well, useful.   The studies that were conducted were all centered around drugs -- all funded by the drug companies.   There seemed to be this huge disconnect between finding a cure for cancer ... it was, instead, about finding the best drug to cure cancer.  So in the end, the cancer would be allowed to occur regardless.

This book underscores that feeling I had so many years ago, and explains how we began fighting the wrong war, with the wrong weapons, against the wrong enemies -- which persists to this day.

I was watching a commercial on TV this morning about the Susan G. Komen breast cancer walk, and I thought, the more people walk the worse breast cancer gets.  Now, I know this isn't true, of course, but my point is that the more we are made aware of something, then it suddenly seems as though EVERYONE has breast cancer.  I was watching the women talking about their experience, whether they were walking for themselves, another survivor or someone that they lost, and while I like the empowering aspect of the whole thing -- I still question whether or not the money raised is going for a CURE for breast cancer, or for better screening tools and better drugs to treat the cancer.

It's not the same thing.

Well, that is one book, which is obviously not a curl up and be happy type read.  Another book in my stack is Prevention's Ultimate Guide to Women's Health and Wellness: Action Plans for More Than 100 Women's Health Problems:  I suppose it could be considered a reference tool, but when I do pick it up (it's heavy!) I do become engrossed.  Again though, not a curl up and be happy type read!

The next one (you might be wondering if I even KNOW how to have fun by now!) is Refined To Real Food: Moving Your Family Toward Healthier, Wholesome Eating: Books by Allison Anneser,Sara ND Thyr which I have a ton of dog-eared pages that need to be attended to.  Oh, there just is NOT ENOUGH TIME to pack in all the information one needs to survive in this scary world (especially if you are a conspiracy theorist like myself and believe that all the government agencies out to "protect" you are really ...) well, maybe I'll write that book!!!

Well no wonder I don't read, that stack would turn anyone off!  My novels are closed up in the bookcase, I need to let them out.  I will let you know if I end up reading any, and how it was.  In the meantime, I have to do a little catch-up blogging (reading the ones I follow) and run outdoors and check out the eclipse.

Good night!

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